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Alexisonfire at Rogers Place on Jan. 22.Photo by Vanessa Heins/ SuppliedGeorge Pettit of Alexisonfire still hasn’t wrapped his head around his band’s continuing post-breakup success.

“My wife will attest to this,” the singer-guitarist acknowledges with a wry laugh over the phone from his Ontario home. “Every time we do something I stress out. Nobody cares anymore, nobody’s going to come out, it’s going to be a disaster.”

If so then we’re going to have to redefine the term “disaster,” as Alexisonfire just keeps getting more popular after announcing their breakup in 2011, with co-singer Dallas Green citing a desire to focus on his more commercially successful side project City and Colour as one of the driving factors. The split didn’t last more than a few years, however, and the band began reassembling when they could find time, officially reuniting in 2015 for a series of shows, touring Australia and New Zealand, but opting out of recording. That all changed last year when they dropped two singles, Complicit and Familiar Drugs, followed just a few days ago (Jan. 13) by Season of the Flood

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We spoke with Pettit, who will be playing Rogers Place on Wednesday with bandmates Green, Wade MacNeil (guitar, vocals), Chris Steele (bass), and Jordan Hastings (drums) about his new development in the band’s reunion.

Q: It was a bit of a surprise when Familiar Drugs and Complicit were dropped. A: Like the fact that those songs even exist, or the music itself? Coming back we knew we wanted to do something heavy, because we’ve all been listening to heavy music. I guess with every release we’ve tried to do something a little different, so people come to expect the unexpected from us. It still sounds like an Alexisonfire song, it’s just we’re utilizing different tools.

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Q: I can see that; I always assumed you were the sort of band that resisted falling into a strict template. A: Well, I’m a big Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds fan, that’s my geek thing. I love how what they do is a saga. If you take their first album and put it against their latest it seems like there’s nothing in common, but if you listen all the way through you can hear the trajectory. When someone churns out the same record over and over I lose interest, but I love when someone pushes against what they’ve done before.

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Q: Did that factor at all into the band’s original breakup? A: No, that was because of a few things, including City and Colour eclipsing us. I probably could have taken the band more seriously, maybe. We still had a lot of growing up to do, and we weren’t sure about our next move. It was a good thing, though, stepping away and figuring out life outside of the band. Of course we were creeping around each other’s houses two years later trying to get it going again. Q: I have to admit that I wouldn’t have thought that a Canadian defunct punk/post-hardcore band, no matter how good, would keep getting popular after their breakup.

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A: I know! There was a brief window in the early 2000s, almost a crack, where a post-hardcore band like ours could creep through. We were the ones that got through, and then the door slammed shut so hard behind us. People wanting that fix for something not even aggressive, but different, still turn to us. That’s the role we fill, and yeah, it’s weird. Q: It occurred to me that in terms of template, obviously not music, you guys are now Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. You’re all doing your own music most of the time, but now and again you assemble at the mothership. Think about it; Dallas Green is clearly Neil Young…

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A: Wade (MacNeil) is definitely David Crosby, especially since he’s going through a Grateful Dead phase. Though he did shave his beard recently, so maybe he’s Stills. I haven’t figured it out yet. Q: So, what’s the end goal here with Alexisonfire? A trickle of occasional singles, or a whole album? A: Honestly, the current way we work is that we come together when we can, and the stars really have to line up for that to happen because we’re all busy. I like this method of trickling out songs, because each one gets more attention. I don’t know about the future, but we will be having that discussion; I don’t foresee an album, but I do see more singles. Q: This seems like a healthier process then the whole record and tour cycle. A: Completely. It’s nice to do something where your income doesn’t hinge on it. Everything we do now is a bonus, especially because when we started there was no hope of getting anywhere with the type of music we played. There was no hope of ever getting rich and famous, and we’re still not rich, so we just did it for ourselves; and now we’re back to that again. PREVIEWAlexisonfireWith: The Distillers and NOBRO When: Wednesday at 7 p.m. Where: Rogers Place Tickets: $64 and up, available in advance from TicketmasterView on Edmonton Journal

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